Night time secrets
by Sonya-Heather-DeVito
Summary: Draco sneaks out of the Slytherin Common Room to apologise to Ginny for his stupid mistake. Canon Divergence. Draco/Ginny pairing.


_A/N: Written for The Houses Competition Year 4. I don't own Harry Potter; it solely belongs to __J.K. Rowling!_

_House: Ravenclaw_

_Year/Position: Prefect_

_Category: __Standard_

_Prompt: [Speech] "The more you do it, the more you will like it."_

_Word Count: 1220_

* * *

It was already late at night. If by any chance Filch caught him, he would be in big trouble; and yet Draco couldn't seem to care. He just knew that he had to apologise to Ginny after he'd dared to pull a stunt like that during today's Quidditch match.

What was he honestly thinking when he sang 'Weasley is our King' so proudly? What was going on in his mind when he insulted the whole family, even Potter's mother?

He certainly hadn't been thinking about the red-headed girl who'd bewitched his mind and morphed him into an entirely different person in these past months. The only thing running through his dunderhead brain at that moment was to insult Ron and Harry, and that idea had worked brilliantly. Draco had never been more amused in his entire life until he'd seen Ginny's enraged and betrayed expressions. He swore if looks could kill, he would have been dead several times over by now.

He picked up his pace, nearly tripping over his shoelaces and cursing loudly, as he made his way towards the Astronomy Tower, knowing well that she would be there. He repeated the monologue and apology speech he'd prepared, over and over. Draco sighed in relief when he reached his destination. Out of sheer habit, he checked once, twice, to make sure no one was following him; Pansy's possessiveness and Crabbe and Goyle's dumbness drove him crazy to no ends.

Thank Salazar that Ginny was already present there. Her back was facing him, so he couldn't process what her mood was like, but the rigid stance of her body spoke for itself. Draco considered for a few moments over what he should say - he'd always been a very confident person, but right now, he was sure his heart was beating so hard, the entire castle could hear it.

Ginny must have sensed his arrival because she turned around with an expressionless face.

"Tell me, _Malfoy_, were you unhappy when you couldn't find rhymes to fat and ugly to describe my mother or couldn't fit 'useless and loser' in your song to represent my father? Or did you feel amused when the other Slytherins laughed when you so thoroughly described how 'The Weasel's hovel' smelt? What was your favourite part of the song, hmm?"

Draco visibly swallowed hard at the distant tone in her voice. It was hard for him to hear Ginny address him as 'Malfoy' instead of Draco. There was no sweetness in her voice, only spite and fury; it _felt_ strange.

He vividly remembered the first time they'd stumbled into each other at the beginning of the term. Draco had been hiding from Pansy at that moment, and Ginny had come there to find some peace amongst her chaotic life. Voldemort's return had left a deep impact on her, so much, that she'd not even bothered to reply to Draco's snide comments thrown her way. It was the first and probably the last time, the Malfoy boy had seen her in such a vulnerable position. Draco had been confused, so he sneaked out of the Slytherin Common Room again the next night, and demanded to know why she wasn't responding to him.

That'd gone for about a week until she'd decided that she couldn't handle Malfoy's company any longer, and yelled at him quite viciously. That had been the first time Draco had realised what the return of the Dark Lord actually meant - it wasn't a sign of progress as he'd assumed, rather of danger and imminent storm in all of their lives.

Days had turned into weeks, and weeks into months, and Ginny and Draco had found solace in each other's company. They had each taken a leap of faith towards each other, and told about the fears buried deep inside their hearts. Draco had told her about the constant need for appraisal from his father, and Ginny had confided about the struggles of being a girl, and how she was always expected to do better than her brothers.

They didn't realise how the late night talks had started affecting their relationship, until the time Hermione had found them smiling and not trying to kill each other. She hadn't said anything; she'd just smiled and left them alone.

"The more you do it, the more you will like it." His mother's words had echoed in his mind; the warning and meaning behind them clear then. Those late nights sneaking out had become a tradition for him and he looked forward to meeting up with Ginny and regaling her with his tales. He loved to make her laugh and smile.

That smile wasn't present on her face tonight.

"Ginny, I..." He moved forward but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her back up. It broke his heart a little.

"You know I would have never said anything like that about your mother, hell not even your father. You, however, went out of your way to make the song and boasted about it..." Draco interrupted her mid-sentence.

"I know, and I really am sorry for that. My intention wasn't to hurt you..."

"I know you wouldn't hurt me intentionally, but you have. My family is everything to me, Draco, just like your family is to you. And I wouldn't allow anyone to spout nonsense about them." Ginny spoke in a firm tone, though she was hurting badly on the inside.

"Anyone? Now I've become anyone?" Draco whispered quietly; his eyes narrowed in danger as he took an intimidating step forward. Ginny didn't dare move from her position but tried to remain stern.

"The way you've acted so brashly today, I don't think you know me at all. Doesn't that make you 'anyone'?" Ginny retaliated.

"For seven months you've been sneaking out of Gryffindor Towers to meet me. For seven months, you've been lying to your friends, especially Potter, just so you could talk to me. I am the person you've told all your secrets to, so don't you dare call me 'anyone', Weasley. And don't you dare deny that you have feelings for me. I've seen the way you look at me." By the time he was finished, he was standing so close to her that she could smell his musky cologne. Part of her wanted to forgive what he'd done and bury herself into the safety of his arms. But she stood her ground. It was high time that Draco learned from his mistakes.

"It doesn't change what you did. It doesn't change that I'm a Weasley and you're a Malfoy. We know we can't be on the same side. More so after _his_ return," Ginny whispered hoarsely.

"Oh, we will. If you're forgetting, _I'm_ a Malfoy, Weasley, and I always get what I want. And this time, neither my father nor a stupid, lunatic Dark Lord can stop me." Draco spoke with such fierce determination in his eyes that she almost believed him.

"It's_ not_ going to be easy."

"Watch me, Weasley." With that being said, he closed the gap between them and took her in his arms, breathing a sigh of relief when she hugged him with equal fervour. In the middle of the night, they were left to wonder as to what all they'd have to endure in the upcoming war.


End file.
